Our Deacons

West Side Church of Christ    

Meet our Deacons:

In I Timothy 3:8-13, Paul gives the qualifications for those who desire to serve as deacons.

"Likewise deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money ..." I Timothy 3:8

The first word in this verse, "likewise", is important to properly understanding this passage. In the verses immediately before this passage (I Timothy 3:1-7), Paul provided the qualifications for the position of a bishop. In discussion the qualifications for a bishop, Paul mentions the "office of a bishop" and states that, "A bishop then must be blameless ..." (I Timothy 3:1-2). Just as a "bishop must be ...", a deacon "likewise must be ...". The word "likewise" connects the two as offices that require specific qualifications for appointment. Therefore, just as the word "bishop" denotes a specific office, so does the word "deacon" sometimes denote a specific office, with qualifications listed below:

• reverent, sober, not double-tongued, not given (addicted) to much wine, not greedy for money, holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience, first be proven (tested), blameless, husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well

The scripture also references that deacons' wives must be: reverent, not slanderers, temperate, and faithful in all things (I Timothy 3:11).